Hand gesture control of mobile devices may involve the analysis of images captured by a camera embedded in the mobile device. Cameras, however, have a number of line of sight related challenges that may prevent gesture recognition from being effective. For example, poorly lit environments may have a negative impact on the quality of the image and in turn degrade performance. Additionally, gloves and other obstructions may inhibit accurate recognition of the hand and/or fingers. Moreover, the mobile device being placed in a bag, pouch, pocket and/or purse may preclude any image from being captured by the camera.